Sweet but psycho
by LouiseEvans
Summary: The TARDIS detects a sinister signal that should not exist anymore, the Doctors dark past is revealed. How will her fam carry on, knowing what she is truly capable of? Inspired by the song "sweet but psycho" by Ava Max. I do not own any lyrics of the song used, nor do I own anything to do with Dr who or the characters used. Should end up being 6 chapters long.
1. Chapter 1

_Oh, she's sweet but a psycho_  
_A little bit psycho_  
_At night she's screamin'_  
_"I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"_  
_Oh, she's hot but a psycho_  
_So left but she's right though_  
_At night she's screamin'_  
_"I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"_

_She'll make you curse, but she a blessing_  
_She'll rip your shirt within a second_  
_You'll be coming back, back for seconds_  
_With your plate, you just can't help it_

Yaz loved watching the Doctor bound around the console, skipping between seemingly random buttons and levers, a contagious, daft grin on her face as they travelled to  
their next mad adventure, never sure of what may lie ahead. They often spent a lot of time either running towards danger and away from it, there was barely time to breathe, and it was exhilarating. It was in the quiet times, after saving some planet or another, however that Yaz really noticed the Doctor, the sadness and darkness behind her eyes. Yaz wondered  
whether it was the manic adventures catching up with her, exhausting her, or whether it was something more. The Doctor hadn't told them much about her past, and Yaz knew  
it must have been for good reason. You don't get past 2000 years old without any painful memories.

They were all having some much needed downtime, the Doctor often forgot that humans needed a lot more rest than she did, much to Graham's annoyance (having mumbled something along the lines of "I'm too old for all this running business"). Graham and Ryan were sat playing some form of alien chess on the console room floor, whilst Yaz sat with a book, not that she was reading it though, she was too busy watching the Doctor work under the console, wincing at the occasional yelp from the Doctor, closely followed by sparks. The console room was soon wracked with loud alarms and flashing lights. The Doctor shot to her feet, spinning the monitor to face her.

"the TARDIS seems to have detected strange wave frequencies that, theoretically speaking, shouldn't exist anymore" said the Doctor, with both confusion and concern evident in her furrowed brow

Graham, Ryan and Yaz all shared a look, that roughly translated as "what now?"

"what who you mean Doc? Surely it has to exist, otherwise how could it be detected?" asked Graham, trying to add logic to the puzzle

"I don't mean it doesn't exist, I mean it shouldn't, not any more. This wave is typical of a intra-atomical bomb. They were banned and all known ones destroyed by the shadow proclamation after the great war between the Belthians and Heboths"

"ok, so maybe one was missed? Or hidden?" suggested Yaz as the Doctor continued reading from the monitor, face growing in concern

"no, that's not possible, it cant be!"

"what is it Doc?"

The Doctor ran her hands through her now dishevelled blonde hair, "in the war, the Belthians were defeated by the Heboths, they all died, but these readings all suggest a  
sort of home-made intra-atomical bomb, and the only species with the material and expertise to bodge one of these is the Belthians. I don't understand!"

"So, we need to follow the signals right? Then maybe we can find out what's happening?"

"Yes! Ten points to Ryan, I hope you're all keeping count, 'cause I gave up ages ago. Right, let's get a shift on!"

With that, the whole TARDIS lurched as the Doctor locked onto the signals and they went head first into yet another adventure. It was at this point the Doctor mentally scolded  
the TARDIS for not adding railing into it's design, as the fam were flung around the console like rag dolls. With one final lurch, the TARIS settled and everyone got to their feet, brushing the dust off their clothes

"right gang, everyone ok? We better get a move on if we're gonna find... whatever it is... in time. I've set the sonic to follow the signals, kind of a metal detector, but for suspicious wavelengths" grinned the Doctor, obviously chuffed with the gadget, "it goes ding when there's stuff"

They left the safety of the TARDIS and into what looked like a warzone, debris and buildings scattered along the floor, an orange haze filling the air, eerily silent. The gang  
remained silent, with the exception of the whirring sonic, as not to startle any potential inhabitants. But they also felt a strange weight on their shoulders, like the daren't  
talk out of respect. Yaz couldn't help but let her eyes explore the terrain, she could see what appeared to be children's toys scattered amongst the rubble and clothes underneath the ash.  
But as they walked, they sensed the Doctor freeze, and all moved their gaze back to her. They all saw what she saw. Hundreds of bodies belonging to the Belthians, of all ages. They couldn't help  
the tears that stung their eyes, but when Yaz looked over to the Doctor, her face was one of anger. Yaz couldn't read her face, her jaw was clenched and eyes sad, but dark.

"the war happened around 200 years ago in this timeline, but the atmosphere here preserves organic matter. They're the same as the day they died, and there's not even anyone to bury them"  
Her voice wavered at the last part, and Yaz wondered if she was talking from experience. The sonic screwdriver suddenly began beeping and they silently kept moving, unable to find the right words.

They had been walking for hours, when they finally progressed and found an entrance to a cave, miles away from any civilised area.

"this must be where the signals are coming from. Listen, before we go, you don't have to come with me. This could be dangerous, I don't know what's beyond this wall"

"we've come this far haven't we Doctor, we're not leaving you now" said Yaz, as Ryan and Graham nodded in agreement. With that they started to make their way into the cave  
the only light being that of the sonic.


	2. Chapter 2

_No, no, you'll play along_  
_Let her lead you on, on, on_  
_You'll be saying, "No, no"_  
_Then saying, "Yes, yes, yes"_  
_'Cause she messin' with your head_

_Oh, she's sweet but a psycho_  
_A little bit psycho_  
_At night she's screamin'_  
_"I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"_  
_Oh, she's hot but a psycho_  
_So left but she's right though_  
_At night she's screamin'_  
_"I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"_

The cave was dark, the rock that made the walls tinged with red, the floor uneven with fallen rocks and dips, that had then filled with water. Every step, word and breath was echoed  
loudly. It was getting more and more of a tight squeeze. Yaz could see Ryan helping Graham through behind her, and the Doctor in front of her. She wondered how much longer they  
would be walking, she could feel her converse digging in her ankles, making sore blisters. If only she chose sturdier shoes.

"Aha! Think we've found something" yelled the Doctor as they made it to a large circular cavity, a strange machine in the centre, seemingly made from scrap metal and materials that they had passed earlier through the previously inhabited areas.

"this must be it, the intra-atomic bomb, well I must say I'm impressed. It must be functioning for the TARDIS to pick it up, but it really is a make do machine. If it wasn't so dangerous  
I'd even call it beautiful"

"what now then Doc? We've found it, but what do we do with it now?"

"well, these machines need a specialised nuclear core to function. I was gonna just take it out, my guess is that these are quite rare so the maker will be unlikely to find another  
. And I can neutralise it with the sonic, there's a setting for everything!"

"admiring my handiwork are we?", asked a unfamiliar, menacing voice. They all startled at the sound and turned to face it. There stood a alien, shorter than them, with  
warty green skin and dark eyes. It was the same as the bodies they saw earlier.

"Ah, so, you must be a Belthian. Not sure how though, stories said you all died"

"Not all, few survived. But it has been 200 years, and now there's only me"

"so, why do you need an intra-atomical bomb? Because, you and I both know, they are very illegal. They're what destroyed your home, and killed your people"

"what business is it of yours? I suggest you leave"

"nah, can't do that, not until I disarm this here weapon" said the Doctor confidently

"I shall have to make you leave then" the strange alien pulled a laser weapon out of nowhere, even the Doctor hadn't expected that

"a a a no come on now, no need for violence" said the Doctor, putting her self in front of her friends

"no need for violence? tell that to the Heboths, they killed my entire species!"

"ah, I see now, you're after revenge, aren't you. You plan on doing to the Heboths what they did to you"

"wouldn't you? wouldn't you want to avenge your family, friends, species?"

"not like this! I'd want to remember them, and honour their name, not cause the same pain and suffering!"

"how can you say that, you could never understand! I am the last of my kind! I have lost everything because of them!"

"no! I do understand! have you ever heard of the great time war? well, I was there, I know exactly how you feel! please, lower your weapon from my friends, leave them out of this!"

"I see they mean a lot to you, much like my family did to me, and as long as they are in danger you cannot stop me. So no, I will not lower my weapon and will not let you stop me"

The Belthian alien pressed a few buttons, and a countdown started on the bomb

"as soon as that countdown reaches zero, this bomb will teleport over to their planet and destroy it"

"teleport? how?" asked the Doctor, gun still trained on her friends

"you really thought if I could make the whole thing from scratch I couldn't reuse an old vortex manipulator? the best part? they wont even see it coming, just BOOM and then they're dead,  
no time to prepare or say goodbyes, just like we couldn't"

The countdown was at 30 minutes. Even for her, it was going to be a challenge getting out of this one in so little time. This was the first time the Doctor properly looked over at her fam,  
she could see the slight tremble in Yaz's hands and the fear in Ryan and Grahams eyes. This ignited an anger deep inside her hearts, and she swore she would get them out safe. She locked eyes with Yaz,  
and they exchanged a reassuring smile.


	3. Chapter 3

_Grab a cop gun kinda crazy_  
_She's poison but tasty_  
_Yeah, people say, "Run, don't walk away"_  
_'Cause she's sweet but a psycho_  
_A little bit psycho_  
_At night she's screamin'_  
_"I'm-ma-ma-ma out my mind"_

_See, someone said, "Don't drink her potions"_  
_She'll kiss your neck with no emotion_  
_When she's mean, you know you love it_  
_'Cause she tastes so sweet, don't sugarcoat it_

The sound of the countdown rang through the cave, echoing off every wall, making the air thicker and the atmosphere tenser with every second. The Doctor had gone over to her  
companions as they all sat on the dusty floor, in silent understanding. All hoping that the Doctor would be able to come up with a miracle plan, to save the Heboths as well as themselves.  
The hostile Belthian had put his weapon away and was concentrating on the timer, watching it go down, counting down the seconds until his revenge was had. Yaz watched the Doctor, studying  
her. She could see her piercing glare at the alien, she could practically hear the cogs whirring in her head trying to come up with a plan, until she noticed Yaz looking at her. Then her whole  
demeanour changed, her face softened, the familiar smile crossed her face, reassuring. She took her hand in hers and squeezed gently, the Doctor looked to Graham and Ryan, nodding gently. As if to signal her plan, an unsaid request, 'keep Yaz away'. They understood, of course they did, they'd been on enough adventures to know that look anywhere. The Doctor rose to her feet, and edged her way over to the alien, who hadn't noticed her movement, as he was so engrossed in the countdown. She had her sonic poised, almost defensively. Yaz tensed at the thought of what the Doctor was going to do.

"looking forward to it then are you?"

The alien practically lept with surprise, finally aware of the Doctor standing just a few feet away from him. He was quick to draw his gun, but the Doctor was faster

"wouldn't bother if I was you, I just reversed the polarity of that, the shot could come out at you, then you can't complete your revenge, wouldn't want that, would we?"

"that won't stop me Doctor, you have no idea how long I've waited for this, and you have no idea what's it's like being like me, the last of my kind"

"oh, but that's where you're wrong. I'm the last of my kind, last of the timelords, and guess who killed them all?" the Doctor seethed, she couldn't bare to look over at her friend's, knowing that they'd hate her or be scared of her, and want to leave her. But she carried on nethertheless. This was her plan.

"me"

"Doctor? Wha-" Yaz was silenced by Graham by a shake of the head

"and do you know what? I used to lie, kept telling others and myself that I'd forgotten how many children had died that day. But I never did. I counted them, every single one. 2.47 billion children. I killed my own family, my children and grandchildren. You may think you can live with that guilt. But it's been thousands of years for me, and the screams and flames still haunt me. Every time i close my eyes I see them and I hear them, and its agonizing" Yaz could barely listen, the way the Doctor spoke, with such unrelenting anger, shook her to the core.

"we are alike Doctor, both willing to kill many"

"we are nothing alike! How dare you liken me to you! You are talking about obliterating a whole planet because of what happened in a war 200 years ago. There's a new generation on that planet, that have nothing to do with those tragedies. And I intend to keep it that way. Now, stop the timer and destroy this weapon. Leave without further consequences whilst you still have a choice"

"and if I refuse? The timer is already at 6 minutes, you're running out of time"

"well, I've got this handy little tool here, sonic screwdriver. Key word there? Sonic"

With that she pressed a button on the device, sending both her and the alien to the ground, clutching at their ears. Yaz tried to break free from Ryan's grasp, but failed and had to watch. The Doctor seemed to recover fast and got to her feet shakily

"ahhh- i set it to a frequency that is harmless to humans, painful to me, unfortunately my species auditory biology is too similar to yours, but most importantly, lethal to you. Send your brain to mush in a few minutes" said the Doctor, teeth gritted through the pain. She made it over to the machine and deactivated it, removing the much needed radioactive component. But she didn't stop the noise. She watched as the alien writhed in agony on the floor, pain written on her own face.

"Doctor! Please stop! That's enough!" yelled Yaz, tears stinging her eyes. She looked over at the Doctor, she saw nothing. She saw nothing of her friend, it was like a whole different person was stood in front of her, torturing this strange alien

The Doctor snapped out of her stupor at the sound of Yaz's voice. She suddenly released the alien from the torture that she had inflicted. Yaz wondered how far she would have gone had she not had her friends to stop her.

"now, leave, and don't make me regret it. Because if you pull another stunt like this, I will find you. And next time I wont be so kind"

The Doctor threw the dodgy vortex manipulator that was wired to the bomb at the alien, who promptly transported away, leaving the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan in an awful  
silence. No one knew what to do. The Doctor had just exposed her darkest and most vulnerable memories. She had barely told them anything before, just her age and species, but now they  
had all of this knowledge about her, and they wish they hadn't now.

"right, back to the TARDIS then" said the Doctor, putting on her fake cheery voice again, constructing her emotional walls once again.


End file.
